About Me

In the fall of 2006, Dr. Arbuckle came to the Public Affairs program at the University of Texas at Dallas, recruited by his long-time friend Larry Terry. He teaches graduate level courses in public affairs to Masters and PhD candidates. Donís expertise lies in Federal regulatory affairs, administrative practice, and the practice and politics of the Presidency.

In the summer of 2006, Dr. Arbuckle retired after surviving 25 years at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). There he was the career executive in charge of the OMB staff responsible for Presidential review of regulations and government efforts to collect information; Executive Branch information and information technology policy; and Federal Government statistical policy. He worked on a daily basis with White House policy officials from the Office of the Vice President, the Chief of Staffís Office, the Domestic Policy Counsel, and the Office of Homeland Security, and with agency officials, including both career executives and political appointees. In 1995, Dr. Arbuckle received the Distinguished Service Award, the highest award given by OMB; and in 2001 he was awarded a Meritorious Presidential Rank Achievement Award, one of the highest awards given in the Executive Branch to career executives. He also served for many years as a recruiter for OMB, and was one of the founders in 1987 of the White House Athletic Center.

Before joining OMB in 1981 Dr. Arbuckle served as an analyst at the National Transportation Safety Board. Prior to that, in a singularly ill-timed career move, he was a Professor of American Civilization at Pahlavi University in Shiraz, Iran, just as the Iranian Revolution got underway.

Dr. Arbuckle was educated at Harvard College and has Masters and PhD degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1968 to 1972. Donís wife Carlisle is a judge at the Commerce Departmentís Patent and Trademark Office. He and Carlisle have three children: Jennifer, husband Steve, who coaches at Louisiana State University and daughter Isabella; Ben, wife Erin and daughters Abigail and Claire - - Ben is a Professor of Archeology at Baylor University; and Michael, a sophomore in the School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin.